Naked Women and Political Dissent

The most challenging thing about attending a strip bar, for me, is my inability to ignore the musical choices of the dancers.  I went to Thee Southern Belle the other night in an attempt to traditionally "honor" my good friend being wed on Sunday.  It is difficult to watch a woman gyrating to the sounds of Rage Against the Machine or Tool and not feel conflicted.  It is not as if I do not see this form of art as something that can be empowering for the women.  It is troubling that while listening to such music that I am, along with the rest of the boys and men in the joint, exhibiting some of my most consumerist tendencies.  We each paid $20 to enter, the group threw loads of cash onto the stage, and we drank beer after beer, without so much as a thought regarding anything other than observing and reacting primordially to that which sinuously slid within inches of our eyes.  I am not sorry I went, and I am glad that our soon-to-be-wed friend enjoyed himself, but I couldn't help thinking how much more fun and leftover cash we could've had if we had all been camping and riding our bicycles.  Of course, there is a consumptive element to any such endeavor, but, if we had done something akin to the latter, I am sure we could've used fewer resources, had many more productive conversations and may have even learned a few things about ourselves other than that we all get sexually excited by beautiful, dancing women.  Hell, we may have even had our musical instruments, along, and come up with some art of our own.  So be it.  Hindsight is always crystal clear. 

 

On a fairly unrelated note, I received the first response to my "Open Letter to My Elected Officials."  It was from my Republican state senator, and, while somewhat formulaic, it seemed to directly address some of what I had written.  He wrote of his work toward a comprehensive energy policy for the state and mentioned reducing dependency on foreign sources.  I worry that comprehensive is now the code language for "clean" coal, domestic drilling, and nuclear power.  While I am no fan of any of the above, I can appreciate that they may ease our transition to other sources.  However, new facilities or subsidies to make them more efficient or more affordable will only divert money from more sustainable sources.  This is not to mention that such thinking will continue to reinforce the massive-scale thinking that has mired our energy policy in this country for far too long.  Micro-scale, truly renewable energy is the way to achieve the desired ends.  Though, to avoid the "base power" conundrum, we have got to demand efficiency in our vehicles and appliances and be more realistic about our personal grid-energy consumption and the number and necessity of trips we make (other than those by foot or bicycle).  Obviously, when we can afford solar arrays and micro-wind (among others) for each of our homes, this will be easier, but something must fill the gap, and voter pressure on elected officials will help us, tremendously.  Write something.

  

As for immigration, Senator McConnell took the initiative to form a study committee to develop new legislation for our state.  I cannot informatively comment on what that legislation means, at this point, but I appreciate that something is being done about this problem.  I do think illegal immigration is a problem, but I also grow weary of those that would turn this human rights issue into a purely economic one.  The age of scaring voters into action is better left to the 19th century, if you ask me, and we need to figure out how to solve this problem in a way that does not criminalize the effort to earn a living.  It seems ironic that we do so, while there are legal citizens of this country allowed to effectively "rob" others by offering them exceedingly dangerous loans, contrary to the borrowers' obvious inability to pay.  

The Senator remarks on how he was instrumental in property tax relief.  I cannot complain if my property taxes are reduced unless it means that our schools and other public services suffer...which they do...so I will.  I have a friend that was forced to move from his home of nearly thirty or more years because of property taxes, and I am sure there are plenty of stories like his.  However, if his burden had been shifted to those that build in unstable environments (read:  on barrier islands and next to salt marshes) or those that move business locations into our town, only to leave within a decade without penalty, he may have been able to stay put.  In other words, if there were a little personal responsibility built into our policy, things would be different, and many are not capable of regulating themselves.  I do not know enough about such matters to suggest how it could be fixed, but I seriously doubt that equitable tax burden exists in our county or state.  I also know that it is fairly easy for businesses to portray themselves in a positive light to politicians that made their careers in such fields as real estate and development and to manipulate local law to suit their financial ends.

He mentions that school funding is not being distributed equitably, which I appreciate.  It is unclear whether he means that more of that funding should be distributed to private schools, but I fear that is the route that most of his party is following.  I thoroughly support more accountability in education, but I also know that education has never been adequately funded in this nation, and I know that unions are a necessary component of our social structure.  I cringe at the thought of what unbridled competition among schools would look like.  I consider the end result of competition in media, shoes, computers, and the awful repercussions this competition has wrought.  So, one school out-competes all the others and, in turn, becomes a sort of Wal-Mart of education?  I just don't see how this could be a good thing, since the benefits of educating most in a less-than-stellar manner will always be better than wonderfully educating a handful of our citizens (the rest in prison and the military?).  There is a better way, and we merely need convince those that make decisions in our name that nothing else is more critical than this issue.  It is the one around which all others revolve.  

I must commend Senator McConnell for his response.  Nobody else has taken the time to send anything, yet, and his letter seemed much more thoughtful than those that I have received from other elected officials in the past.  Perhaps I'll publish my letter in my next entry, since this ain't the most mellifluous missive, and I don't expect those with seats up for grabs this November to be writing me anytime soon.  

Check out this link sent from L.A. Rob, hopefully soon to be the "new bastard."  Just cut and paste it into your search interface if it doesn't manifest click-ably.  I don't have the time or patience to make this instantly accessible.  Can you believe we once used dial-up internet connections?  Also, watch Manufacturing Consent, listen to Lungfish, already, and go ride your bicycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4